To create a Bubble Sheet assignment:

1. Go into your Canvas Course, click on Assignments, then +Assignment to create a new assignment. 
   
2. From the Submission Type list, click External Tool, then Find.
   • We recommend checking Load this Tool in a New Tab for optimal functionality. 
     
3. In the list of tools, scroll and click on Gradescope.
   
4. Once Gradescope is selected, a new popup will appear and you’ll be given an option to link to a new or existing Gradescope assignment.
   • If you happen to have an assignment already set up in Gradescope click An existing Gradescope assignment; otherwise, click A new Gradescope assignment and click Link Assignment.
     
5. Then click on Bubble Sheet, then Next.
   
6. From this point, you can follow this guide to configure your Bubble sheet assignment and answer key: Creating a Bubble Sheet Assignment – Gradescope Guides
7. Once you create your Bubble sheet assignment, be sure to click the Select button in Canvas to finalize your choice, even if Canvas has already displayed a green success message.
   
8. Configure the rest of the assignment in Canvas and click Save or Save & Publish.

Some considerations:

• There are 3 credit options which can be set for the entire assignment or per question: Exact, Partial, Either/Or.
• You can decide who will upload submissions — Instructor or Student. If instructor uploaded, the file upload must be in PDF format.
• You can create up to 5 different versions of your bubble sheet assignment, but if using multiple versions the assignment must be uploaded by the instructor.
• You can easily regrade or change answers in your bubble sheet after the test has been given. Just go to your bubble sheet and change your answer and it will automatically regrade all submissions.

In order for Gradescope to work, Gradescope’s 200-question template will need to be used.

Don't want to print out all the bubble sheets? You can provide the link to the bubble sheet to your students to print out. We recommend having some forms printed out just in case.

Keep in mind that the bubble sheet template cannot be altered. The following fields are included:

• Name: used for auto-matching uploaded submissions to students on your roster
• ID: student ID, if applicable it can be used for auto-matching uploaded submissions to students on your roster
• Section: enter a section name if applicable
• Date: date the student completed the assignment
• Version: used for the student to mark which version of the assignment they are assigned to
• Other: a field to enter any other information you have requested from your students
• Two hundred answer spaces: provided over two pages; only upload the used pages

Minimally, we recommend at least requiring the name field be completed. For the automatic matching to work best, students should write their name as it appears in Canvas. 

A variety of scanners & smartphone devices may be used to scan Gradescope assignments. This includes the copiers/scanners around the Virginia Tech campus. Be sure to check out Scanning Tips for a more comprehensive walk-through.

Some essential tips:

• Know how many pages you will be scanning before starting. This way, you can verify that you have scanned the right number of pages.
• Scan double-sided to ensure all pages are captured.
• Scan multiple exams in one batch. Gradescope can later split the master PDF file into individual submissions. (Exception: If you have multiple versions (A, B) of an exam, it’s best to batch the scans by exam version instead. So you would scan all A exams in one batch, and then scan all B exams in another batch.) 
• Use the following settings when scanning:
  • 150dpi
  • No page auto-rotation (you can rotate pages in Gradescope if needed)
  • No blank page removal (you can remove blank pages in Gradescope if needed)

If students are uploading exams, you may wish to share some of these best practices with them. 

Manage Scans

1. Once all exams have been scanned, go to Manage Scans and click Select PDF Files to upload the exam scans.
   • If all exams were scanned in one batch (one PDF) then Gradescope should automatically split these out into individual submissions. It does this by comparing the uploaded pages to the template PDF (which you uploaded when you first created the assignment).
     
2. If Gradescope is not successful in splitting out the master PDF, then you will see a yellow error message that says “Ready to Create Submissions (Unable to confidently autosplit).” 
3. Click Show and then scroll until you see pages with yellow error icons. You may hover over the page thumbnails and click the magnifying glass to Zoom in. Depending on the issue, you may need to reorder, split, or merge submissions.
4. Once satisfied, click Create Submissions, then Manage Submissions.

Check out Managing Scans for Exam/Quiz Assignments for more information.

Manage Submissions

Automatic Matching: Gradescope auto-matches scanned submissions to students using Name and ID fields on the Bubble Sheet template. For best results, students should handwrite their names and IDs exactly as listed in the roster. If you prefer to maintain anonymity during grading, you can delay matching until after grading by labeling these regions later.

Manual Assignment: On the Manage Submissions page, view total submissions and unassigned students in the top-left corner.

To assign unmatched submissions:

1. Go to the Unassigned tab.
2. Click Enter Student Name, type the student's name or ID to locate them or scroll down the list and click on the student.
   
3. Repeat until all submissions are assigned.

Adjusting the name or ID regions on the Edit Outline page will re-run automatic matching without affecting manual assignments. To disable auto-matching entirely, use the option at the top of the Manage Submissions page.

Anonymous Grading

If student names appear anonymized, Anonymous Grading is enabled. To disable it, go to the Settings page and uncheck Enable Anonymous Grading. Click Save to save your changes.

As with traditional scantron grading, Gradescope will automatically score bubble sheets based on the exam template and provided answer key. Once grading is complete, instructors can post grades to Canvas.

Before syncing grades, you can review and adjust the answer key as needed. Gradescope allows for easy rubric edits across all submissions using the Adjusting Points Assignment-Wide or Rubric Editing features. 

To post grades to Canvas:

1. Ensure your Gradescope course is linked to your Canvas course by clicking on the Gradescope tab in the course navigation menu.
2. Navigate to Review Grades for the appropriate assignment in Gradescope.
3. Click Post Grades to Canvas.
4. Verify that the appropriate Canvas assignment is linked, then click Post Grades.

Additional notes about grading bubble sheets:

• For instructor-uploaded assignments with anonymous grading enabled:
  • Scanned submissions are automatically matched to students, but manual matching of unassigned submissions is disabled. Gradescope-assigned student names and ID numbers are also not visible on the Manage Submissions page. For this reason, Gradescope recommends only enabling anonymous grading for instructor-uploaded assignments after all the scans have been uploaded and matched to students. Alternatively, instructors can disable anonymous grading after grading is completed and finish matching any unassigned submissions.
    • For anonymizing grading on instructor-uploaded assignments, Gradescope recommends that instructors only include an ID region and not a name region on the exams.
  • More about Anonymous Grading here.

Gradescope provides powerful analytics tools that help instructors evaluate student performance and grading consistency. 

To explore these insights, go to your assignment in Gradescope.

• Click on the Statistics tab.
  • View key statistics such as overall assignment mean, median, maximum, minimum and standard deviation. 
  • Tags can be applied to each question to align the content to specific modules, topics, or objectives. 
  • Data can be filtered by section.
• Click on the Item Analysis tab. 
  • See the distribution of scores by each question and by each multiple choice option. 
  • Questions with a low percentage of correct responses tend to indicate gaps in student learning or ambiguous question writing.  

For more information, visit Gradescope's page on Viewing Assignment Statistics.